Following is the text of UCSD Chancellor-Designate Robert C. Dynes' remarks delivered at a news conference on April 9, 1996:
It is an honor to have been selected the 6th Chancellor of the University of California, San Diego. In my judgment, UCSD is the most dynamic university in the country today. It is the brightest rising star in the stunning constellation known as the University of California.
UCSD has had a tradition of outstanding leaders, beginning with Roger Revelle and continuing through Dick Atkinson, and I am humbled to follow in their footsteps. During this past year, Marjorie Caserio has been a superb Interim Chancellor. The University and the community owe her a deep sense of gratitude for her excellent stewardship of the campus. She has led boldly. She has made tough decisions. And she has contributed great dignity and personal charm to the office of the chancellor. I look forward to working with her to make our transition as effective as possible.
The faculty and staff have achieved unprecedented success in UCSD's 36 years. But much still remains to be done. UCSD is young by the standards of higher education. Harvard was founded in 1636 and the University of California in 1868. Yet UCSD's brief but brilliant history is just a prelude to even greater promise for the future. I have many goals for UCSD, among which I would like to mention the following:
First, we must ensure that students are an integral part of the life of the campus and that the UCSD culture is more responsive to students' needs. Second, we must accommodate the enormous demand for college admissions that is projected to occur in the next 10 to 15 years; and we must do so in a manner that maintains UCSD's academic standards while encouraging students from California's diverse communities to aspire to a higher education. Third, we must continue to recruit the best faculty that this nation and the world have to offer in order to meet our teaching and research responsibilities. The quality of the faculty will be the single most important determinant of UCSD's future.
Fourth, the basic research enterprise on Torrey Pines Mesa has the potential to be the best in the world. We must create more active collaborations among these research institutions and San Diego's business community to realize this potential.
Fifth, we must build closer partnerships between the University and business -- locally, nationally, and internationally. Both partners will benefit from such relationships but the greatest benefit will accrue to the San Diego region in terms of a more vital economy
and a better quality of life.
Sixth, we must continue to build a strong sense of community at this young campus. UCSD has nearly doubled the number of faculty and students in the past 15 years. A strong and vibrant sense of community will enable UCSD to accommodate the additional growth expected in the next fifteen years.
Seventh, I want to extend this sense of community to the entire San Diego region -- including the South Bay, East County, and downtown. I want them all to believe that UCSD is their university and to take as much pride in UCSD's accomplishments as do La Jolla and North County.
UCSD has been the recipient of enormous goodwill and support from alumni, donors, elected officials, business and community leaders, parents, and friends. And UCSD's success is tied directly to that support. The State of California's share of UCSD's annual budget has dropped below 18% in recent years; we will need the continued
support of the community to sustain UCSD's growth and vitality in the years ahead. In turn, UCSD's contributions to this community will repay San Diego many times over.
On a personal note, I came to UCSD 5 years ago from AT&T Bell Laboratories, one of the nation's preeminent corporate research organizations. I did so because I wanted to devote more time and energy to students and because UCSD has an unparalleled record of encouraging innovative research. I declined positions at Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, and UCLA because Dick Atkinson convinced me that UCSD was uniquely situated to enable a faculty member to fulfill his greatest dreams. He said the lack of tradition at this young campus would enable me to get things done that would be more difficult elsewhere. Dick was right, and my enthusiasm for UCSD burns even brighter today than it did when I arrived.
San Diego's vision for its future also exerted a strong pull on me. In my view, Boston and Philadelphia were the great American cities of the 18th century. New York and Chicago became so in the 19th century. San Francisco and Los Angeles have achieved this distinction in the 20th century. Each of these cities had a great university associated with its rise to prominence. I truly believe Mayor Golding's bold assertion that San Diego will be the first great city of the 21st century -- and I am committed to seeing that UCSD helps to make this vision a reality.
As the first member of my family to receive a college education, I have a deep respect for education and what it can make possible in one's life. I have a strong commitment to ensuring that others have access to the same benefits that I have received. Those of us in higher education must do all we can to see that society benefits maximally from the American university.
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